ministry which you've received
in the Lord that you fulfill it. But reading verses 15 and
16, I just couldn't get past thinking about Laodicea because
of that letter that the Lord wrote to that church. The church at Laodicea was in
close proximity to the church of Colossa in Asia. Now it's
nothing more than ruins. That's it. No city there, nothing
but ruins. But at one time it was a thriving
and populous city. And here's what Paul wanted for
them. Look in Colossians chapter two. For I would that you knew what
great conflict I have for you and for them in Laodicea. and
for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their
hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love unto all
riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in
whom were hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Now
this is what Paul desired for this church. Now we read in that
passage in Colossians chapter 4, look with me again, Salute
the brethren which are in Laodicea, in Memphis, in the church which
is in his house, and when this epistle is read among you, cause
it to be read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you
likewise read the epistle from Laodicea." Now evidently Paul
wrote an epistle to Laodicea, and we don't have a copy of it.
And you can imagine how many people have supposedly come up
with a copy, and a spurious copy, and they try to promote the stuff
they want to out there, but no one has ever found that. There
is no epistle that we know of to Laodicea, and some people
think that Archippus, who is spoken of in the next verse,
was the pastor there. Now I couldn't help but thinking
about Christ's letter to the church at Laodicea. Would you
turn with me to Revelation chapter 3? As you know, In the book of Revelation
chapters 2 and 3, the Lord writes seven letters to seven separate
churches. The letter to Ephesus, Smyrna,
Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. And the letter
to the Laodiceans, I think is scary. Let's read it together. Revelation chapter 3. In the
previous six letters, he commended every single one of the churches
for something. He had a lot of rebukes to him
as well, but he commended him for something, but there was
no commendation to the church at Laodicea. Let's read this
together. And unto the angel of the church
of the Laodiceans, the letter was written directly to the pastor
of all these churches, Under the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans write, these things saith the amen, the faithful
and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know
thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou
wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, because
thou sayest, I'm rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing. And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold,
trithe in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment,
that thou mayest be clothed and that the shame of thy nakedness
do not appear. And anoint thine eyes with eye
salve that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come to him, and will sup with him, and
he with me. To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and
am set down with my father in his throne. He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Now, this is that warning regarding
lukewarmness. And there are two things that
frighten me personally about lukewarmness. Number one, I see
that it nauseates Christ. That's enough to catch our attention,
isn't it? He actually says, I'll spew you
out of my mouth. And the second thing that's scary
is when you're lukewarm, you don't know it. You don't know
it. You think, I'm rich, I'm fine,
I'm okay. I'm increased with goods. I have
need of nothing. I'm fine. Hey, I'm okay. You're okay. I'm
all right. So there's the two things that
are scariest about this thing of lukewarmness. Number one,
it nauseates Christ. He hates it. And number two,
when you're lukewarm, you don't know it. Now let me give you
six things that on the surface were wrong with this church at
Laodicea. And these were men and women
just like me and you. And here's what I want to do
to begin with though. As we consider this passage of
scripture, do not look at anybody but yourself. And I want to begin
that exhortation with me. Don't think so-and-so needs to
hear this. Don't think of anybody but yourself. And I don't want
to think of anybody but myself. And don't think the preacher's
shooting at us with his message. He's not. You know, I'm in the
habit now, I get on sermon audio and I look and I try to find
any sermons I can find on the passage that I'm wanting to speak
from. found the guy from, it was Reformed Heritage, I can't
remember what the name of the church it was, but I mean he
was beating everybody to death about their worldliness and their,
and your materialism and so on, and I thought, buddy did you
realize that the letter was written to you? He wrote to the angel
at the church. If there's a problem, you're
the problem. If there's a problem here, I'm the problem. So don't
look at anyone but yourself as we consider what our Lord says
to this church. What does it say to me personally? Not what does it say to somebody
else? What does it say to me personally? Now, let me briefly
give you these six things that we see on the very surface after
reading this letter to the Laodicean. First, they had a mistaken assessment
of themselves. They were completely wrong in
their attitude toward themselves. They said, We're rich. We're increased with goods. We
have need of nothing. And you don't know that you're
wretched and miserable and poor and naked and blind. They had
a completely mistaken assessment of themselves. I don't know how
many times I have to ask myself, how blind am I to myself? How
blind am I? What is it that I do not see?
The second thing is they had lost their sense of need. We
have need of nothing. You know what that means? They
quit hearing the gospel as sinners. You know, you can only hear the
gospel as a sinner. If you've lost your sense of
need, you can't hear the gospel. If I preach the gospel, losing
my sense of need, I can't preach the gospel. A sense of need is
absolutely essential. I need the Lord Jesus Christ. I need his mercy. I need his
favor. I need his forgiveness. I need
him. Thirdly, he said, I counsel thee
to buy of me gold tried in the fire. They were going to the
wrong place for counsel. He said, I counsel thee to buy
of me. And fourth, they were blind.
They were just blind. They couldn't see themselves
as they really were. They couldn't see the Lord as he really was.
They were blind. He says, you're blind. Fifth, they'd lost their
zeal. The Lord said, be zealous. and
repent. They've lost their zeal for the
Lord Jesus Christ. And last, and this is what is
maybe in some respects the most concerning, they were not in
communion and fellowship with Christ. The Lord presents himself
as outside the door, knocking, seeking entrance. They were not
in fellowship and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. They were
not supping with him. Now this name Laodicea, It means
either the rights of the people or the righteousness of the people.
And you can see where that would go. Whenever someone decides
I'm going to start seeking my rights, I'm going to protect
myself, I'm going to do my thing, I'm not putting up with this
anymore. I'm going to protect my rights. Watch out. They're
on the way. Laodicea. And human righteousness,
the biggest enemy you and I have, is our own self-righteousness. It's not my sin that keeps me
from Christ. It's my righteousness. And so, where you have this Laodicean
spirit, you see what took place. Now, I love the way Christ identifies
himself to all seven of these churches. Look in chapter 2,
verse 1. Unto the angel of the church
of Ephesus write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven
stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks. You know, the Lord is walking
in our midst right now. Isn't that a glorious thought? He's walking in our midst right
now. He holds me in his hand. That's his promise to his churches.
Look in verse 8. And unto the angel of the church
in Smyrna write, These things saith the first and the last,
which was dead and is alive. Look in verse 12. To the angel
of the church at Pergamos write, These things saith he which hath
a sharp sword with two edges. Look in chapter Verse 18, unto
the angel of the church of Thyatira write, These things saith the
Son of God, which hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and
his feet as brass. Chapter 3, verse 1, and unto
the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things saith he
that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars, I know
thy works. Look what he says in verse 7.
Unto the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These
things saith he that's holy, he that's true, he that hath
the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth,
and no man openeth. Aren't those glorious descriptions
of our Lord? And then when he writes to the church of the Laodiceans,
he says in verse 14, and unto the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans write, these things saith the Amen. The faithful
and true witness. The beginning of the creation
of God. Now I love the way the Lord is
called Amen. That's his name, Amen. You know
when you hear the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit
and an Amen just comes spontaneously out of you? Well, he's the Amen.
He is the Amen. What a name. And I love how he
calls himself the faithful and the true witness. You remember
the story of the emperor's new clothes? Two weavers promise an emperor
a new set of clothes that is just going to be the most beautiful
array that you've ever seen. but it is invisible to those
who are unfit for their position, stupid, or incompetent. If you're
like that, you can't see. So these guys present the emperor
finally after some work with his new clothes, and he didn't
see anything. I can't let anybody know that.
They'll find out that I'm incompetent for my job, that I'm unfit. They'll
think that I'm stupid. So he goes parading around with
his new clothes. And everybody's oohing and aahing
and thinking, oh, what exquisite work, how beautiful these clothes
are. They were so very impressed. And finally, a child cries out,
but he isn't wearing anything at all. the faithful and the
true witness. Our Lord is the faithful and
true witness. If we want the truth about God,
about ourselves, we look to Him. And he says he's the beginning
of the creation of God. the cause of the creation of
God, both physically and spiritually. And he says to this church, I
know thy works. That's what he said to all seven
churches the first time he spoke with them. I know thy works. And the Lord does. He knows my
works. Not, I know your statement of
faith, not I know your creed, but I know your works. And look what he says. I know
your works that you're neither cold nor hot. I would that thou were cold or
hot. Now, coldness, being cold. My wife knows something about
it. I hear her say, probably a hundred times a day, I'm freezing.
You always feel like you're cold. I'm always hot, so we got a problem
there. But coldness is a feeling of
discomfort, isn't it? It's a feeling of discomfort.
And when the Lord is talking about them not being cold, you
know what it means to feel spiritually cold. Spiritually cold, unfeeling. You hear the gospel and it's
not speaking to you. are unfeeling. And when you're
unfeeling, you hate yourself. You hate the feeling of being
unfeeling. You can't stand it. Oh, coldness
is miserable. To be cold towards the things
of the Lord, to be cold when you hear the gospel, this coldness
is a miserable feeling. And then, hotness, being hot. Hot is uncomfortable. I mean,
when you're hot, you're uncomfortable. I can't stand being hot. I really
can't. Like I said, that's our big conflict.
When we were driving over here earlier, Lynn hits the air conditioner
and turns it off, and all of a sudden, I feel no air on me.
I start getting irritable. Who turned that off? I mean,
I do not like the feeling of being hot. He's talking also
about hotness of zeal, a warmth in the things of Christ. You're
zealous for his glory. You feel warm. It's born of a
love to Christ. Now, the Lord says to this church,
you're not cold and you're not hot. He said, I would that you would
be one of the two. Verse 16. So then, because thou
art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out
of my mouth. You're lukewarm, neither cold
nor hot. Lukewarm is tepid. It's a temperature
of comfort. You can stick your finger in
something that's lukewarm. It's not going to hurt. You're going to be comfortable.
It's not going to freeze your finger. It's not going to burn
your finger. You're comfortable. Would be a good way to describe
it. And that's what he said of the
Church of Laodicea and said, so then because you're lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot, I'll spew you out of my mouth because
you say, I'm rich. I'm increased with goods. I have
need of nothing. I'm in good shape. I'm fine,
I'm great. And the Lord says regarding that,
I will spew thee out of my mouth. I thought of coffee. I can't
tell you how much I love coffee. My first cup of coffee in the
morning, it's Starbucks French roast and I love it. It's hot. From what I understand, people
are drinking coffee cold now. Can you all do that? I can't
imagine someone drinking iced coffee, but people do it. I've
seen it. They even sell that at McDonald's now. But one thing
that I despise is lukewarm coffee. It is sickening. It's irritating
to drink lukewarm coffee. And the Lord says to these people,
because you're lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth, because
you say I'm rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And you don't know, here's what
you're ignorant of, that you're wretched and miserable and poor
and blind and naked. Now their problem was ignorance. They didn't know. that they were
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. They thought
everything was great. Now, a knowledge of these things actually
are essential. When Paul says, Closing Romans
chapter 7, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from
this body of death? He was blessed of God, wasn't
he? That was a great blessing to be so dissatisfied with yourself
and your sin and your old nature that you cry out, O wretched
man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? And he says, You don't know you're
miserable. You know there's something great
about being miserable. What? You cry for mercy. And mercy
is for the miserable. And if you're not miserable,
there'll be no mercy for you. It's a blessing to be miserable
in that sense. And then the third thing he mentions
is you don't know that you are poor. What a blessed thing it
is to be poor. To be blessed are the poor in
spirit. To have absolutely nothing to
recommend you to God. That's the people who get grace.
Grace is for the guilty. Grace is for sinners. Grace is
for those who have nothing to recommend themselves. It's a
blessing of God to be poor. But they couldn't see it. I'm
in good shape. And then the next thing he mentions
is blindness. You don't know that you're blind.
The Lord said, for judgment, if I come into the world, that
they would see not, might see. Oh, it's a blessing to be blind.
You can't think of one reason why God would look your way in
favor if it's up to you. What a blessing that is. For
judgment, if I come into this world, that they would see not,
might see, and that they would see, might be made blind. And then he spoke of being naked,
naked. nothing to cover your shame.
But isn't it a blessing when you see you're naked? Then you
have to have Christ covering you, don't you? Then you have
to have his righteousness. But they didn't see these things,
so this was just a terrible place for them to be. I guess this
is the worst state a believer can get in, is that of the Laodiceans. I have need of nothing. Oh, he healed them that had need
of healing. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. I'm not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Now look what he says in verse
18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. Now here's counsel from the wonderful
counselor. Is there a place for human counselors?
Of course there is. If somebody comes to me for counsel,
they're going to probably get the wrong advice most of the
time. Most of the time. And there are certain situations
where people are going through something that they need someone
that has some kind of experience or training in it. Yeah. Yeah. There's a place. But they had,
I'll tell you the best place though. Him who is called the
Wonderful Counselor. And they had not come to Him. And He says, I counsel thee,
I advise thee, this is the word, I advise thee to come to Me and
to buy gold tried in the fire. Now, I have no doubt that that's
a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that gold tried
in the fire. That's talking about the person
and work of Christ. Christ crucified. Now, if I have Him, I have true
riches. I have real, they would say, more rich. No, you're not.
You're not rich unless you have this gold tried with the fire.
Somebody says, but how can I buy Him if I don't have anything?
Well, Isaiah 55 verse 11 says, Oh, everyone that thirsts come
to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye
buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk with no
money and with no price. The only currency Christ accepts
is a bankrupt note. You bring a bankrupt note to
him and he'll receive you. You bring anything else, he'll
turn you away. This is the only way I can come
to Christ is empty handed. gold tried in the fire is Christ
himself, Christ roasted under the wrath of God, and only having
him do we have true riches, and all it requires to have him is
to have nothing to pay. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, I love
the gospel, the simplicity of the gospel. All he requires is
to have nothing to pay. And if you have Him, you know,
listen, Scripture says Christ is all. If you have Him, you
have wisdom, you have righteousness, you have sanctification, you
have redemption, you have all that God requires. Everything. And then next, he
says, I counsel thee to buy of me gold dried in the fire, that
thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be
clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.
Now that white raiment is talking about his righteousness. That
is my clothing. That is my covering before God.
This justification is what it is. I hope I never preach a message
where I don't have some kind of references. I say that a lot,
so I'm going to keep saying it to remind myself. There's only
one righteousness. That is the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. His perfect law-keeping is my
personal righteousness before God. Just as my sin became his
sin and he died, his righteousness becomes mine, and that's my personal
righteousness before God. And I'll tell you what, It is
bad when we're not just amazed and awed by being saved by his
righteousness. Oh, how beautiful to be saved,
to have this white raiment, the fine linen, clean and white. And then the next thing he mentions
of them buying from him in verse 18 is, and anoint thine eyes
with eyesalve, that thou mayest See. Now this is referring to
the anointing of the Holy Spirit that gives us eyes to see. I'm
able to see who God is. I'm able to see Christ. I'm able
to see myself. Now they were blind. They couldn't
see. They thought they were rich and increased with goods. I'm
okay. You're okay. Everything's great. And they
didn't know that they were naked and miserable and wretched and
poor and blind. And what you need to be given is eyesalve
to be able to see that where the Lord makes it to where you
can see the truth. And look what he says in verse
19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. As many as I love. Who's that? The elect? Every
believer, those for whom Christ died, he loves them all. Now, every single one of them
in this group, as many as I love, everybody that I love, I rebuke
and I chasten. I know this. Nobody likes to
be rebuked, beginning here. Nobody likes to be chastened.
I'd rather not be chastened. But when he says this, I say,
Lord, rebuke me. Lord, chasten me. I want to be
somebody you love. You know, if you be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, the scripture says, you're bastards
and not sons. I don't want to be in that group.
I want to be somebody he loves and somebody he rebukes. And
there's plenty to rebuke me for. And I want to be someone he chastens
because he loves me. You see, you don't punish other
people's kids, do you? You're just chasing your own.
And when you chase them, it's not some kind of vindicative
anger. You do it because you love them
and you want what's best for them. The Lord says, as many
as I love, I rebuke and I chasten. Lord, rebuke me. Lord, chasten
me. Don't leave me to myself. Don't
leave me alone. Don't let me fall into a Laodicean
spirit where my whole life is a lie. Don't let that happen
because I know it will if you leave me to myself. Oh Lord,
come to me and grant me this. He said, as many as I love, I
rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Don't be lukewarm. Don't be half
in and half out, halting between two opinions, but white hot and
repent. Now, what does repent mean? It
means change your mind. Change your mind. These thoughts
you've had, they're wrong. Change your mind. Don't say,
I'm rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. Say,
I'm poor and I have great need. That's how David described himself.
David, the man after God's own heart, 10 times described himself
as poor and Needy. Oh, repent of these thoughts
you have of yourself and the wrong thoughts of me. You know,
you look at the Laodiceans. What they did say, they didn't
even mention the person of Christ, did they? I'm rich. I'm greased
with goods. I have need of nothing. But the
person of Christ is not as much as mentioned by them. Now, he says, be zealous. Don't
be lukewarm and repent. Change your mind. Ask the Lord
to deliver you from your wrong thoughts of self, losing your
sense of need. Repent of lukewarmness. May we
all be enabled to say with Isaac Watts, love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all. I don't want to be lukewarm
to you. I don't want to be half-hearted about anything. I don't want
to be tepid, neither cold nor hot. Now look what he says in
verse 20. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. Now I need to make some statements
about that before I give what it means. I think I feel a need
to tell what it doesn't mean because people use this as Christ
standing outside of the sinner's heart knocking, seeking entrance. Let me assure you it doesn't
mean that. He breaks down the door. He comes in and he rules
and he reigns. He doesn't knock on your heart
to see if you'll let him in. He breaks down the door. He gives
you a new heart. This is not talking about him
trying to get somebody to let him in. So, you know, open up
your heart to Jesus. That's not what this is at all. He's speaking to his children,
those he loves. He says, as many as I love, I
rebuke and I chasten. And he presents himself as being,
the only way you can say it is on the outside, on the outside. Now, I know if you're a believer,
Christ dwells in your heart by faith and he's always there and
he'll never leave. But the state they've got himself
in, the imagery he uses is him standing on the outside and knocking,
knocking. And he says, if any man opens
to me, I hear him knocking. I hear him
knocking in the preaching of the gospel. I hear him knocking in every
providence. If any man hear me and open up,
and you want, Lord, knocks aloud that I've got to hear and give
me the grace to open up and come in and rule and reign in me. That's the response of the believer.
Lord, come in and rule and reign in me. Now, look what he promises. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock if any man open and hear my voice and open the door I
will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. This is talking about the intimate
fellowship that the believer experiences with his Lord, where
you know you're his. You hear the gospel and you know
you believe. And you see him as altogether glorious and altogether
lovely. And there's communion with him,
supping with him. You know the most intimate thing
you can do with your friends is when you eat together. You
eat together, it's intimate, you're sharing. This is what
the Lord is talking about, this intimate time with him. I'll
sup with him and he with me. What a blessed privilege that
is to dine with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he says in verse 21, to him
that over cometh, this Laodicean spirit, this neither cold nor
hot attitude, to him that over cometh. How do we overcome? Turn to Revelation chapter 12.
Let me tell you this, you don't pull yourself up by the bootstraps
and just get out of it. It isn't going to happen. Verse nine, and the great dragon
was cast out, that old serpent called the devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth
and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud
voice saying in heaven, now has come salvation and strength and
the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ, for that
the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night. Now let me stop there for a second.
Any accusation Satan makes against you, Is it true? I'm afraid it is. I'm afraid
every one of them are. He doesn't have to make up things
about you. He doesn't have to make up things about me. He's
got plenty of ammo to work with. Any accusation that he would
say, Todd did this, Todd thought that, Todd did blank, whatever
it might be. He could make any accusation
against me. How do I overcome that? Because
what he's saying is the truth. Verse 11, and they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb. That's the only way of overcoming.
Who is he that condemneth? Christ that died, yea rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Turn to 1 John 5. John likes this word overcome. For what, verse 4, 1 John chapter
5, verse 4, for whatsoever is born of God. That's talking about
the new birth. That's talking about the new
nature. That's talking about that holy nature that's given
to the believer. Your old nature never overcomes.
It's sinful, evil, not going to get any better, bad as it's
ever been. For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh the world. And this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh
the world? But he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God. You know, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. I believe he's the eternal second
person of the blessed Trinity, the only savior of sinners. Now
him that overcometh. by the grace of God, by the blood
of Christ, by the work of the Holy Spirit. That's the only
way anybody overcomes. Either overcometh will I grant,
will I graciously bestow to sit with me in my throne. Isn't that amazing? He's gonna
sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set
down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, what a blessing
it is to have an ear. Not everybody has ears to hear.
Remember where he talked about those people in the parable of
the sower, having ears they hear not, eyes they see not. Not everybody
has ears to hear. But he that hath ears to hear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Lord, deliver me. Deliver me in every respect.
Save me. Have mercy on me. Deliver me
from a Laodicean spirit. Deliver me from lukewarmness
where I can't even see where I'm at. Lord, deliver me. And I think we can all pray that
prayer. Lord, have mercy. You know, is
there ever a time when it's not necessary to pray, Lord, save
me. Save me from myself. Save me
from this. Let's pray. Lord, we confess that Without your grace, we will be lukewarm, neither
hot nor cold. Lord, apart from your grace,
we'll make these empty claims of being rich, increased with
goods and having need of nothing. Lord, would you, by invincible,
almighty grace, cause us to see our wretchedness and poverty
and blindness and nakedness and need, and cause us to call upon thy
name for deliverance from ourselves. Now, Lord, bless this message
for your glory and for our good. In Christ's blessed name we pray,
amen. What do you got, Mitch? I was actually thinking that
one, good. 226, we'll stand and say.